Arnt

BACKGROUND

LaTasha Arnt fatally stabbed her husband, Staff Sergeant Matthias Anthony Arnt, III, during a domestic dispute on Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, where SSgt. Arnt served as a mem- ber of the security forces unit. The government charged Arnt with murder, asserting jurisdiction under the Military Extra- territorial Jurisdiction Act of 2000 (MEJA), 18 U.S.C. §§ 3261-3267. After a jury deadlocked over whether to con- vict, the court declared a mistrial. She was re-tried; a second jury acquitted her of murder but convicted her of the lesser- included offense of voluntary manslaughter.

Arnt filed a timely notice of appeal. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. 1 Because we reverse the conviction on the jury instruction issue, we do not reach Arnt’s other challenges to her conviction, not mentioned herein, nor do we address her challenges to her sentence or the restitution order. 1030 UNITED STATES v. ARNT

DISCUSSION

Sufficiency of the Indictment [1] Congress enacted MEJA in response to a jurisdictional gap created by host nations’ reluctance to prosecute crimes against Americans committed by civilians accompanying the Armed Forces outside the United…